Combined roof and running board



Oct. 20, 1942.

S. J. STRID COMBINED ROOF AND RUNNING BOARD Filed July 2, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Qj'rf/v .Jr/WD o M Q A T-raR N s V5 Oct. 2o, 1942.

Filed July 2, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w n. gw ,y l 1 ci;gwm n MT i L INVENTOR. J/f/VJT/P/D /Za-uhv ATTORNEYJ Patented Oct. 20, 1942 2,299,704 COMBINED ROOF AND. kRUNNING BOARD Sven J. Strid, Chicago, Ill., assigner to T & S Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application July 2, 1941, Serial No. 400,734

(Cl. S-5.4)

9 Claims.

This invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to roofs for freight cars and the like.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved car roof having a built-in running board.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved sheet metal roof construction having a running board provided with anti-slipping corrugations or ribs integral with the roof sheets.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved running board for railway cars that is so constructed that it may be incorporated in the roof structure while the roof is being fabricated without the use of additional material.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved running board that may be incorporated in the roof structure as an integral part of the roof at a small additional expense over the cost of fabricating the conventional freight car roof structure.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a railway freight car showing the invention in position thereon, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a modified form of the construction, with parts broken away;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line l'.i-' of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4,' and Fig. 7 is a plan view of a section of 4a roof showing a modied form of construction, with parts broken away.

In the building of sheet metal railway cars, it is the common practice to provide all freight cars with a running board extending along the center of the car on the roof. These running boards, in practice, are usually of wooden construction. They are separate structures and are attached separately to the roof.

Such a construction is objectionable because of the added expense in manufacturing the walk and attaching the same. Furthermore, in this time, when speed and more speed is the order of the day, these separately attached running boards are objectionable because of wind resistance developed as a result of attaching these walks above the roof.

The present invention seeks to eliminate these 55 tudinally difliculties by the use of walks that are integral with the roof structure and that may be incorporated in the roof as the sheets are rolled or that may be rolled into the metal sheets in which the walk is incorporated.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character I0 designates a roof I I and side plates I2 to which the roof is ccnnected. The side plates I2 may be of the usual or any well known construction and in the form shown yare Z-shape having a horizontal portion I3 and a downwardly extending flange portion I4 to which the side sheets forming the :car side walls I5 are adapted to be attached either by welding or riveting, as is usual in such constructions. The side plate I2 has an upwardly extending flange IS, Fig. 2, to which the roof structure I I is secured.

The roof section II comprises a plurality of carlines Il, see Figs. 2 and 3, which extend transversely across the car. These carlines may be of any suitable form in cross-section, that shown being in the form of an inverted U I 8 having the outwardly extending flanges I9.

Secured over the carlines is the roong material ZI which, in the form of the construction shown, is made up of a plurality of sheet metal strips 22 that extend longitudinally of the carlines, the edges 20 of which overlap Aabove the -carlines and are secured thereto as by means of welding or by means of the rivets 23, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3.

The sheet metal strips between each pair of carlines is provided at the central portion with a plurality of corrugations 24 which extend longitudinally of the car `and transversely of the sheets. The distance between the outermost corrugations of the sheet is of substantially the width of the conventional running board and constitutes the running board for the car. The outermost corrugations 25 and 26 are higher than the intermediate ones 24 and constitute the side edges of the running board. These corrugations in each intermediate sheet 2l terminate adjacent to the carlines so that the overlapping portions 20 of the adjacent sheets are not corrugated. By means of this arrangement, any water that may collect between the corrugations is free to move laterally at the points where the edges overlap, thereby constituting a drain for the space between the corrugations. Certain of these corrugations 24 may be sectional or nonrcontinuous to provide passageways 30 for water as shown in Fig. 1. Where the corrugations extend longiof the car, it is not necessary to provide railway car having the.

any additional reinforcing members beneath the walk.

All of the sheets may be provided with transverse corrugations along their central portions. The walk extension lil at the end of the car is provided with corrugations 5@ similar to the corrugations 24, 25 and 25, as shown in Fig. 1. The corrugations in the end sheets of the construction shown in Fig. l may be corrugated on one side down to the lower edge of the roof in order to give access to the ladder which is usually attached to the vertical wall of the car.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is shown a modified form of construction. In this form of construction, the sheets 2id have their central portion corrugated as in the previous construction but the corrugations are differently arranged. As shown, there is a central corrugation 35 and a pair of corrugations 36 and 3l at opposite sides of the corrugations 35 and spaced therefrom. The corrugations 35, 3% and 3l extend longitudinally of the car but transversely of the sheet 25a. The sheet between the inner corrugations 36 and 3l has corrugations 38 extending transversely of the car and longitudinally of the sheet. rlhere are a plurality of these corrugations on opposite sides of the central longitudinal corrugation 35, as shown more clearly in Fig. li of the drawings. The short corrugations SS terminate at a small distance frein the central corrugation 35 at their inner ends and also are spaced from the corrugations 3S and 3l. The step or extension 39 is corrugated in substantially the same manner as the sheets Zia.

The corrugated portions of the various sheets are in alinernent along the central portion of the roof and constitute the running board therefor. If desired, the corrugations il extending down to the lower edge of the roof on the end section 2 la extend transversely of the sheet and longitudinally of the car and each one is angular; that is, the ends of the corrugations are inclined downwardly at their ends from the central portion of the corrugation so that water collecting between the corrugaticns will be drained in opposite directions from the central part of these corrugations.

In Fig. 7 is shown a different form of construction which, in this form of the device, has the roof sheets l2 of a different form of corrugations from that already described. In this form of construction, there is provided, along each side of the centerline of the roof, ccrrugations GS and it which are spaced apart and extend transversely of the sheet t2 and longitudinally of the car. These corrugations stop short of the overlapping edges of the sheet as in the previous construction. The sheet is corrugated between the longitudinally extending corrugations i3 and it and these corrugations i5 are segmental; that is, they are not continuous. As shown, the central section to of the corrugations i5 extends at opposite sides of the centerline of the roof and is spaced from smaller corrugations il and 48 which in turn are spaced from the longitudinal corrugations 43 and fili. The space between the corrugations :is in the plane of the roof sheet so that water can readily drainV from the corrugated section. In this form of construction.. reinforcing members are preferably, though not necessarily, provided with reinforcing members 49 and El which are attached to the sheets beneath the corrugations t at each side thereof by suitable means such as the rivets 52 which extend down through a iiat portion of the sheet and the corresponding reinforcing member. These reinforcing members may be of any suitable form in cross-section, those shown being angle bars as indicated in Fig. 'l of the drawings. The reinforcing angle bars 49 and 5| may, if desired, stop short of the side edges of the sheet as indicated in Fig. 7. These foreshortened reinforcing members t and 5l are sufficient to rigidify the structure without extending the same to the side edges of the sheet thereby simplifying the attachment of the reinforcing members to the sheet.

The end sheet in this form of construction is also provided with corrugations similar to those shown in Fig. 4 and extend to the lower edge of the roof to constitute a walk from the conventional ladder on the side of the car at the end thereof to the longitudinally extending running board at the top of the roof.

In all forms of the construction, a brake step 53 or an extension ofthe running board is previded. In the form of the construction shown in Figs. e and 5, the corrugations on this extension have the same arrangement as the main portion of the running board in said ligure. The extension is supported by being attached as at 5t to the end wall 5t of the car and has a usual brace 56 for supporting the outer end of the extension as is usual in such constructions. The extensions of the other forms of the running board may be made to correspond to the construction of the running board on which they are attached. It is not necessary, however, that the corrugations be the same as those of the sheets along the roof of the car.

It will thus be seen that in all forms of the construction there are segmental corrugations extending the full length of the car for defining the side edges of the running board and other segmental corrugations forming the tread portion thereof and that in Fig. 4, which is the preferred form, there are also segmental transversely extending corrugations. In all forms of construction, the roof sheets are shown as extending transversely of the car but they may extend longitudinally thereof, if desired.

It is thought from the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, thatl the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to lthose skilled in the art and that changes in size, shape, proportion and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a railway car, having a roof structure composed of sheet metal, carlines for supporting said sheet metal roof structure, said roof struc-v ture having corrugations extending lengthwise of the car along the central portion of the roof structure for forming a walk, the outermost cor` rugations being larger than the intermediate ones for defining the side edges of said walk.

2. In a railway car, a roof section having its longitudinal Central portion provided with upwardly extending integral projections forming a walk extending from end to end of the car, said walk having projections extending lengthwise of the car at opposite sides thereof and of greater height than the remaining projections to form guides for the sides of the walk.

3. A method of fabricating a combined metallic roof and walk thereon which comprises cutting to lengths and rolling corrugations into sheet metal strips at the central portions of said strips, connecting said strips together and to the roof supporting structure to form a roof with said corrugations extending along the central portion of the roof frame from end to end of said roof.

4. A sheet metal roof for a railway car comprising a plurality of sheets of metal extending transversely of the car and rigidly connected together at their meeting edges and having corrugations along their transverse central portions, said corrugations stopping short of the edges of each sheet, said corrugations being in alinernent longitudinally of the car to form a walk extending along the central portion of said roof from end to end thereof.

5. A sheet metal roof for railway cars cornprising a plurality of metallic sheets extending transversely to the car and having their edges rigidly connected together, each sheet having a pair of corrugations extending transversely of the sheets along their central portion and spaced apart, a plurality of intermediate corrugations between said rst corrugations, said corrugations forming a walk from end to end of the roof along running board on said roof from end to end thereof.

'7. In a sheet metal roof for railway cars, a set of longitudinally extending corrugations impressed in the roof and having interruptions at intervals throughout their length, said corrugations extending from end to end of the car, a central corrugation in the roof interrupted at intervals throughout its length extending throughout the length of the car along the longitudinal centerline of the roof, and a plurality of transverse corrugations between the central corrugation and the rst-narned corrugations at opposite sides of the centerline of the car, said transverse corrugations stopping short of said longitudinal corrugations and forming the tread portions of the running board.

8. In a railway oar, a metal roof structure comprising sheet metal plates each extending entirely across the car roof, said plates being secured together and bent to form a roof structure, said plates having incorporated therein a plurality of projections integral therewith to form the tread surface of a running board extending along the central portion of the roof from one end to the other.

9. In a railway car, a roof section comprising a plurality of plates rigidly connected together to constitute the entire roof covering of a car, said roof having its longitudinal central portion provided with a plurality of indentations forming upwardly extending integral projections constituting a tread surface of a walk extending from end to end of the car.

SVEN J. S'IRID. 

